Jack Snow was not the type to brag. His son, J.T. Snow, knew his father was a fine wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams from 1965-75. But he didn’t know just how terrific an overall athlete he was when he attended St. Anthony High in Long Beach.

J.T. found out at Jack’s funeral in 2006 after the elder Snow succumbed to a staph infection.

“Some of his old coaches where there and teammates and friends from Long Beach and St. Anthony,” said J.T. Snow, a former Major League Baseball player. “Every one of them came up to me and said, ‘Your dad was probably one of the best athletes in Long Beach at the time, if not of all time.’ And I was like, ‘You’re kidding me. He never said that.’

“They said, of course, he was a hell of a football player, he was a great baseball player, he could have played basketball or ran track. I got a big smile on my face because he never let on to me about that. He just said he was someone who had to work really hard and give all he had.”

Jack Snow, who was just 62 when he passed, is one of many to be enshrined at St. Anthony’s first Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday at the Grand Event Center in Long Beach. This is to honor those who have left an indelible mark on the school with their performances both during and after their days there.

Snow, from the Class of 1961, certainly did that. He was strong-willed and dedicated to his craft. He wanted his children to be the same way. J.T., who played four years for the Angels and nine for the Giants, said his dad was firm. And right on the money.

“He was very tough and very strict, kind of came from that era,” J.T. said. “He was also very fair. He was demanding. He stuck to his word and he expected the best out of all of us whether it was school or sports. My sisters (Michelle and Stephanie) were cheerleaders and dancers. So he was just an old-school guy who was very black and white; not a lot of gray.

“Until we were all grown and had kids, then he had grandkids and he softened up a lot. But I don’t think I could have ever made it to where I got without him. I think if he would have been easier on me, like a lot of parents, there is no way I would have gotten to where I got.”

Jack Snow’s passion and focus are perhaps what helped him earn a reputation as having some of the best hands of any receiver in the NFL during his time. Former Press-Telegram columnist Doug Krikorian covered the Rams for the now defunct Los Angeles Herald Examiner back in Snow’s playing days. He said if a ball could be caught, Snow caught it.

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“He had great hands,” Krikorian said. “These days you see these receivers who drop passes routinely. I never saw him drop a ball.”

Snow played his college ball at Notre Dame — he was All-America his senior season — and then began his 11-year stretch for the Rams. As a rookie in 1965, he caught 38 passes for 559 yards and three touchdowns. In 1967, when he made the Pro Bowl, he caught just 28 passes but averaged a whopping 26.3 yards per catch with eight TDs.

From a numbers standpoint, his best season was 1970, when he had 51 receptions for 859 yards and seven scores.

Impressive, indeed. And even though Jack Snow was not one to toot his own horn, he did at least once. As the story goes, Snow, who eventually became a color analyst for the Rams, was working a Long Beach State football game with friend and broadcasting partner Jeff Severson.

Severson, a seven-year NFL safety who was a player at Long Beach State when he first met Snow, said he reminded Snow of a reception he made in a game against the Baltimore Colts.

“Jack made one of the most unbelievable catches of all time,” said Severson, who prepped at Long Beach Wilson. “Roman Gabriel threw him a pass. They were playing the Colts and the ball comes down at a point. Well, the ball was out of reach, but Jack caught the back half of the ball, which is like impossible because it’s like catching a bar of soap.

“And I would always kid Jack. I’d say, ‘Jack, I know you don’t remember this story, but I remember you catching a ball against the Colts.’ He’d go, ‘No, I don’t remember, but it was against Lenny Lyles and the Colts and it was third down and 6.’”

Severson laughed. He recalled another instance when Snow showed him his character.

“Jack and I both spoke at the Elks Lodge (in Long Beach) one time and I was just drafted by the Redskins by George Allen, his old coach (with the Rams),” Severson said. “And Jack said, ‘Come on, let me buy you a beer.’ And I thought that was very thoughtful because he kind of filled me in on what to expect next.

“When Jack and I sat down to have a beer, it connected me. It made me feel really good.”

Today, Jack Snow’s legacy lives on in the Jack and J.T. Snow Scientific Research Foundation — also known as The Snow Foundation — which was established to benefit Wolfram Syndrome, a genetic disorder. Jack’s granddaughter, Raquel — born to daughter Stephanie — has it.

Unfortunately, the last eight years of Jack Snow’s life could not have been his happiest, as he lost his high school sweetheart and wife of 34 years, Merry Carole, to cancer in 1998. But Jack left behind plenty of good memories.

“He was very intense, very passionate and he was a great father,” J.T. Snow said.

There are other ways his father will be remembered.

“I have played a lot of celebrity golf tournaments where there are guys that played against my dad,” J.T. said. “And the one thing they all say is that he was just a good guy and a great teammate. Those are the things you like to hear.”